Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-05-08
TELEGRAPH CIPHERS.
How Business Men save Big Telegraph
Bms-words That Mean Volumes. If Iou
Understand Them.

HAddoptII ItHts.
The telegraphic ciphers used by mer-
chants, bankers, brokers, insurance men
and business men generally is a device that
saves thousands of dollars to the senders of
tel~egraphic messages, and besides saves
time and keeps the secrets of business firms
frequently from becoming public property.
The Geographic cipheri is pretty near as ola
as the telegraph itself. 1t did not take
long for some inventive genius to devise a
scheme for saving money and talking APP
parent riddles by telegraph. What he
came the business mems gain was the tele-
graph c%ompany's loss. Men who would
telegraph one hundred words in n single.
message, got to sending three or four words
by wire that meant rs much rs the one
hundred word message. At the pres
ent time every big business
house in the country has a
telegraphic cipher. Many firms have pri-
vate ciphers of their own, and any man
who can invent an original cipher cover
ing the ordinary terms of the commercial
vocabulary can sell it readily for a good
round sum. Merchants want CipherS that
nobody but themselves and their trusted
agents in different parts OF the country can
understand. There are thousands of very
remarkable messages sent over the wires
every day. A message sent 10y a big
sugar broker on last Wednesday 10 a mer-
chant in this city was delivered by mis-
take to a man of the same name rs the
merchant. The man for whom the mes
sage was not intended read to his amaze
ment Dead Horse" He sent the mes
sage back to the telegraph Office for IN eN-
PLANTATION, and then it was delivered
to the proper person. The merchant
was not surprised when he read
Dead Horse lie knew that it
meant that the broker would not sell at
the figure he had offered. The funny eX-
change of telegraphiC communications be-
tween business men is not funny TO them.
They are all business, and when a mer-
chant receives n message, Rooster,
which means, 1--WE expect To buy at your
limits" he does not think of a big barn
yard cock with n big red comb aud Il flow
ing tail and huge spurs. The rooster never
crosses his mind.
The men who deal in hogs and Chicago
beef have a great deal of t~elegraphing to
do, and the language most used IN hogs Is
very brief and snappy. One word means
volumes usually, and in New York, phila-
delphia and Chicago the hog Language is
in extensive circulation during business
hours. Tedious means "The hogs arriv-
ing are very heavy in weight lie,
diously, The hogs arriving are heav-
Ter than usual. Teeth, The hogs
arriving are mostly light in weight
teething, every few of the hogs now ar
irving are heavy enough for mess pork
tenor means, The packing season may
now he considered closed temple con
veys the information that The hogs no"
arriving are heavier than those received
earlier in the season. tcndril means The
packing season is expected to he short,
and templar means 1.-The dressed hogs
arriving are in good condition. The
little cipher book so much in use has a
great deal of hog language in 1t, and there
is a great deal about the weather and crops
that merchants are aCways 80 anxious to
| kDOM uiDOlll ~ ~ W NNAlh' "ii'Ai'A " ~
ner in wheat or corn is advisable. Symbolic
means The seeding this spring IS back
ward" Sympathy, ''Ihc weather Is I'M
favorable for the growing crops
Synagogue, up % this time very
little has been done, the ground being
too wet Synod Late lrosts said
to have done much injury Tadpolc,
CONVEYS the information that accounts Of
the crops are very encouraging and III
time of dry weather Tablet reveals the
fact that 1.-THE crops have been injured by
the severe drought" Tablet means "haI-
vesting in this section will begin next
week" Teapot, heavy rains in this sec
ton of the country" Tavern, weather Is
warm for this time of the year. Tattoo
means the reverse, weather Is cold Tor
this time of the year
The ciDherS used for describing the time
of day and different months are very nu'
merous. 'NOsegay" means the last hall
of March and Nobody indicates the last
half of February. Nominate" includes
February, March and April. "Nostril, y
March and April; "NOurishing, April and
May; Nugget" May, June and July
Nutmeg, . June and July; "O6elisk,
July, August and September; Obstacle,
September, October and NOvember;"Ohal,
November and December, and 'Ofence
means November, December and January
'Opulenccn means tomorrow, "Opulcnt
this week, and Orange this month. IL
referring TO the time of the day that a sal,
is TO he made, the broker writes OUTLAW
for half-past . o'clock in the morning, AM
outrageous for II o'clock. If he telegraphs
, Buy 1000 bushels at paddle h
he means 9. Is p. M. If lie uses the wOrt
Painful he means 3:i5 p. M. Palace
means 5 p. III.
In keeping n customer posted on tn
state OF the market a broker has a vOcab
ulary at his fingers ends with which h
gives his customer a great deal Of infor
. nation for very cheap telegraph tolls. 70
| instance, picture" means that the maj
ket opened steady aud firm at yesterday
closing quotations, and "Pilfer" inform
the customer that the maTke
is ffrmer, with indications Q
I an advance. "Pillow describes tn
market as firm, with good shipping al
speculative demand, and "Pimple" show
the market firm at full quotations, Will
Pistol states that the market IL yer
firm. When the single word Plague
I shoots over the wires it means that III
market is active aud still advancing, an
plaster" very naturally indicates ths
the market is strong. PLEASE convey
the intelligence that buyers are giyin
i a decided preference for future delivery
and Pillow" means that there is an actiV
demand for immediate delivery. \ broke
!, telegraphing from this city 10 Pittshur
frequently uses the word ''Plucking,
which means that under influence of fri
: advices from New York this market ha
stifrned. The simple word ''Plumage
means that Eastern and foreign advIoes b
ing decidedly more favorable Speculation
bought freely. The plumber Is utilized I
convey the information that the advance
, caused by reported heavy failure. Poll
u zeal" means that speculation Is encourage
by the easy money market. When tn
market is ~inactiue Poverty" means tina